


Lavandula angustifolia

by Twinsational



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Fluff, Johnlock - Freeform, Johnlock Gift Exchange, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-14
Updated: 2014-02-14
Packaged: 2018-01-12 07:58:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1183826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twinsational/pseuds/Twinsational
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Many people appreciate lavender (Lavandula angustifolia, or Lavandula officinalis) for its fragrance and use in home remedies for things such as insomnia, flu, sinusitis, tension headaches, just to name a few.</p><p>John uses it to calm Sherlock's massive brain down when he has the flu.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lavandula angustifolia

**Author's Note:**

> For the Johnlock Valentine's Day challenge! It's for edana-erised, so I hope you enjoy. ;-)
> 
> Prompt was 'white tea & lavender'

Nothing prepared John to deal with Sherlock Holmes having a flu. Not Afghanistan, not his years of medical training, not even having angry, jealous girlfriends.

“John!” shouts Sherlock, from his overlying position on the sofa. “Where are you? Stop leaving me. It’s irritating.”

 “Just making tea, Sherlock. I haven’t left your peripheral vision all day, so stop moaning.”  There was a grunt from the living area and John just sighs softly. His patience was most definitely running slim. After allowing the tea to steep and throwing the bag away, John puts in two generous spoons of white sugar and mixes it well before serving it to Sherlock. “There you go, Your Majesty. Tea with two or ten spoons of sugar, no milk.”

Sherlock’s head pops out of his cocoon of blankets. He eyes it suspiciously and sniffs loudly. “Is that my regular?” asks Sherlock, sipping it slowly. “This is white tea, John. Where is my tea?” He wasn’t sure what it was, but it definitely wasn’t this… this tea. He glares at John. “You’re sick of me.”

The response is expected. John just laughs and smiles, “Yeah, yeah. I am, but I’ll suck it up. I went to—”

“—Tesco’s, yes, I’m aware. You had your basket and milk in it, along with sugar.” He had seen the bags; two of them. One for their milk and sugar, and another filled with tea and various groceries (tomato sauce? Frozen meatballs? Was John planning on making spaghetti soon?). “You were in the tea aisle, but you were distracted by a twenty something and didn’t even buy the tea and didn’t realize it until you got home, did you? No, no you didn’t. What a shame. I hope that he was worth it. Did you get his number? No, you didn’t. You were feeling foolish, hm…”

He’s cut off promptly. “Okay, Sherlock. Enough. I really don’t have the patience for your deductions today. Just drink your damned tea and sleep some more.”

“I don’t need you to mother me, John. Go ahead and… do whatever it is you do. Don’t you work at a clinic, or something?” Sherlock waves a hand distractedly, then sips his tea. He grimaces. “Oh, god, John... Do the shopping again. This tea is going to make me regurgitate everything I’ve eaten today—”

“—Oh, yes, the half piece of toast you consumed. Shut up and drink. I’ll take your temperature in an hour. Just give me some bloody peace, will you?”

There’s no response and John could probably cry in happiness. “Finally,” he mutters, “some peace.”

“I heard that!” snaps Sherlock, then puts his tea on the floor, then stands and stalks away into his room. He slams the door and locks it.

Laughing softly to himself, he grabs Sherlock’s teacup and saucer to put it in the sink, then grabs his own tea to relax in his chair. Pulling out his laptop and waiting for it to boot, John stares at the spot Sherlock occupied not moments ago. This grown genius was reduced to a whining, snippy toddler when he was ill and John could laugh at the thought. First there was constant snipping, then whining, and now the sleuth was deduced to a pouting child and locking himself into their bedroom. A few moments later, John sets his tea down and pops open his browser, which takes another few moments, and pulls up ‘How to calm my sick boyfriend down’. Over seventy-three million links pop up and John clicks the first.

There is a questions and answers forum, which the bolded question is: _My boyfriend is sick and is always really cranky… What do I do? Help!!!!!!_ Piking John’s interest, he scrolls further down and looks at the top rated answer. “You have options here,” he murmurs to himself, “so they are here as follows: Give him a backrub if he’s experiencing pains; cook him a homemade dinner and plenty of tea; rub lavender oil on his temples.” He continues, most definitely interested now. “Lavender essence oil will ease his mind and help with any sort of sicknesses he has.” And then looking at the links provided, he finds a site providing the various uses of lavender essence oils. “Well, I suppose I could try home remedies,” even more considering that Sherlock refused to take any medication, and John didn’t blame him. Once an addict, always an addict.

Deciding this was at least worth a shot, the doctor finishes his tea and shuts his laptop down properly. After putting a pair of shoes on, John pockets his wallet and heads over to a local store, Mind & Matter. Locating the oil is easy enough in the store and once he’s home, John realizes how atrocious the idea sounds. ‘Oh, Sherlock, mind if I dabble some lavender oil onto your temples and calm that massive brain of yours?’ Perfect.

John knocks on the door. “Sherlock? You awake?” There’s an almost inaudible sound from the other side of the door. “Love, open the door, please. I brought the right tea, just like you wanted.”

There’s a bit of shuffling and the door opens, but Sherlock’s already in bed again. “No, you don’t,” he whines, looking up at John and pouting.  “You brought me… not tea.”

“It’s lavender essence, Sherlock. Lie back so I can rub it onto your temples.” He toes off his shoes and sits on the edge of the bed. “I just want to at least try and get you to relax enough to finally rest.”

Sherlock deeply sighs, but closes his eyes and allows John to take control. “Lavender essence,” he murmurs, almost to himself. “Lavandula angustifolia…. You googled it, didn’t you? ‘How to torture your boyfriend into a coma?’” He huffs. “Supposedly soothing and refreshing. Latin root _lavare_ , which means “to wash.”  Sherlock is mildly aware of John massaging his temples. “Approximate ORAC of 3.669… ORAC referring to the oxygen radical absorbance capacity, because you wouldn’t know that… Obviously.”

“Obviously,” echoes John, smiling. He is rubbing Sherlock’s temples with the essence oil and feels extremely accomplished. Was Sherlock actually, possibly, _maybe,_ feeling drowsy?  “Tell me more, Sherlock. Tell me everything.”

Sherlock doesn’t mind continuing, but his mind feels sluggish. He was tired, obvious, but John wanted him to continue. “Lavandula angustifolia is beneficial for an array of conditions… insomnia, anxiety, stress… illnesses….” He yawns and realizes his eyes are closed. Why was he falling asleep?

“Mmhmm… I know, luv. That’s why I’m trying it on you. You just indicated that it helps with things like insomnia and the flu, so I thought to myself, why not? I might as well try it out. And it is working, as far as I can tell.”   When he looks down, he is grinning at the fact that Sherlock is (finally) asleep, breaths deep and even. “Oh, thank Christ.” Leaning down and risking a chaste kiss onto his boyfriend’s full lips, John makes sure that Sherlock is comfortable under the covers. “Get well soon,” he mutters, then heads out.  

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed! Reviews are much appreciated, since this is my first Sherlock fanfiction.


End file.
